beauty reviews & other musings

June 11, 2016June 10, 2016

Birchbox UK: June 2016

This month’s Birchbox theme for June is “Paradise Found”. I received mine fairly promptly a few days ago – their shipping has always been great for me – and opened it to discover a very cute pineapple-emblazoned pink and yellow box (top marks for summery-ness). This box has a little drawer that slides out rather than being your standard lift-the-top-off box, and in that drawer were all the bits that I received this month. Overall, I think I’ll use most of the products, but might not repurchase the full sizes due to the prices.

For June I got a variety of products – only one of them makeup-related (sadly):

Monu Professional Skincare MONUSpa Warming Ginger Body Oil: this is fairly strong smelling oil, intended for nourishing the skin. The ginger scent is highly fragrant (kinda smells like ginger nut biscuits), but I quite like the scent, although it did stink out the whole box. The oil itself is really soft and non-greasy, and absorbed quite nicely into my skin. I would consider purchasing the full size, although it is £29.95 for 100ml(ouch).

James Read Overnight Tan Sleep Mask Tan Face: I think everyone is supposed to receive this as part of the James Read launch on the Birchbox shop. HOWEVER – I most likely won’t be using mine and will probably give it to my sister. I’m not interested in fake tan products due to my incredibly pale skin and ginger hair (seriously guys, I’m too pale for MAC NC15 by quite a lot). The bottle says that it suits all skin tones, but I won’t chance it. The product itself doesn’t really have a scent, is enriched with skin benefits and works as an overnight gradual tan mask. This is probably a really nice product for those who like to self tan, although the full size is £25 for 50ml. #gingerproblems

Absolution Le Nettoyant Pureté: it took me a few minutes to figure out exactly what this was, mainly because the packaging is mostly French (thanks GCSEs – not). It is a cleanser in the form of a clear, lightweight gel, containing chamomile, white willow (ok lol) and oats. This combination gives is a plant-y smell, similar to the NUXE Masque Crème Fraiche ® de Beauté (more French). I like the scent, and the cleanser is fairly effective while remaining gentle. A full size bottle/tube retails for £26 (150ml).

Percy & Reed Reassuringly Firm Session Hold Hairspray: I don’t have any hairspray at the moment so this was pretty handy. I like to curl my hair most days, but my hair isn’t the best at holding style – this hairspray is actually pretty good, although the small can may not last very long if you go as hard as I do (oops). It was a little crunchy, but the smell isn’t too crazy-strong and I didn’t feel like I was choking on chemicals. The can I got was 50ml, and the full size is £12 for 250ml, which I think is fairly reasonable for a good hairspray (as long as you don’t go to town on it).

POP Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio in Peach Parfait: YAY ACTUAL MAKEUP. Birchbox don’t sell this actual trio, although they do sell larger palettes from the brand. I’ve never heard of or owned anything from POP Beauty, so it was nice to try something different. This peachy and shimmery trio features three full-sized shadow pans (and a useless applicator – bye) in a champagne shade, a pale peach and a bright copper. The shadows swatch nicely and are fairly pigmented, with an absolutely gorgeous shimmer to them – however they do kick up some fallout and perhaps aren’t the most long-lasting. The colours are brilliant for summer and I’m really impressed with their quality – although the packaging is a pain to open. I’ve included some close-ups and swatches from this product below – POP Beauty sell their 10-shadow palettes for £15.50 here.